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| Moon Jae-in |
Opposition presidential candidate Moon Jae-in continues to tout himself as a leader who would improve the country's relationship with the Stalinist North and defuse the ongoing diplomatic rows in Northeast Asia.
Should he win the Dec. 19 vote, the contender from the Democratic United Party (DUP) claims he will be able to propose a policy framework for peace on the peninsula, which will include an approach to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
The strategies will be discussed and fine-tuned in summit meetings with the United States and China during his first year as president, which hopefully will proceed to a face-to-face session with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Moon told foreign correspondents in Seoul, Monday.
He stressed that improving diplomatic relations between the two Koreas, which deteriorated during the past two governments led by the late Roh Moo-hyun and current President Lee Myung-bak, will have to be balanced through renewed economic cooperation.
Moon emphasized that an attempt at inter-Korean detente wouldn't come at the cost of lax defense. He promised stronger military capability and stern maintenance of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas.
"Economic progress (between the two Koreas) will require a denuclearized North and the establishment of a peace process ... I will work closely with the leaders of nations representing the six-party talks (South and North Korea, China, the United States, Russia and Japan) to defuse security concerns and map our way toward regional prosperity," he said.
"(The idea is to) create a massive, pan-East Sea economic region that brings together South Korean regions alongside the eastern coastline and Seorak Mountain, North Korea's Geumgang Mountain and Rajin-Sonbong areas and also China and Russia, linked by maritime transport and railroads and the fostering of energy and tourism industries," he said.
"This will be balanced with a West Sea economic region connecting South Korea's Jeju Island and Incheon, North Korea's Haeju, Nampo and Sineuiju and China's eastern districts."
Moon is contending against Park Geun-hye, daughter of late dictator Park Chung-hee and candidate from the conservative ruling Saenuri Party, and independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, for the right to become Korea's next leader. However, the three-way battle could turn into a showdown depending on the outcome of the ongoing single candidacy talks between Moon and Ahn.
Moon said Korea will have a stronger role in assisting the growth of developing economies and promised to expand the country's spending on official development assistance (ODA) and other financing tools.
However, he continued to be vague on the issue of whether he will be pushing for the renegotiation of the controversial free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea and U.S., which critics claim will stunt the growth of small- and medium-sized companies here and threatens the livelihood of farmers. They also expressed worries about the expanded role of foreign capital in the health and education sectors.
"We will contribute to the efforts to promote free trade in the global economy," Moon said.
"The Korea-U.S. FTA is already a ratified agreement, so we will follow it sincerely. However, there is increasing public concern over a number of poisonous provisions, so we will have to renegotiate these articles under proper international processes."
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